Microsoft will invest around $3 billion in expanding artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing capacity in India.
CEO Satya Nadella announced the investment commitment during the Microsoft AI Tour in Bengaluru earlier today, January 7.
“AI doesn’t sit on its own; it requires the entire compute stack,” said Nadella during the speech, adding that "infrastructure needs to be the highest priority, and we are innovating at every layer of it."
Microsoft has existing cloud regions in India including Central India located in Pune, South India located in Chennai, and West India located in Mumbai. Globally, the company has more than 60 cloud regions and 300 data centers.
In addition, Microsoft plans to train 10 million people in AI by 2030 in the country as part of its ADVANTA(I)GE INDIA initiative.
The investment pledge follows Nadella's meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. On January 6, Modi posted on X: "It was indeed a delight to meet you, Satya Nadella! Glad to know about Microsoft's ambitious expansion and investment plans in India. It was also wonderful discussing various aspects of tech, innovation, and AI in our meeting.”
Microsoft’s presence in India includes three cloud regions, in Pune (Central India), Chennai (South India), and Mumbai (West India); all opened in 2015. The company has since delisted its Mumbai region; it may have been converted into a reserved access region.
In 2024, Microsoft acquired a 16-acre parcel of land in Pune's Hindjewandi region for the development of a data center. The company is also looking to develop in Hyderabad, having purchased 48 acres of land in May of last year, which may be to develop a new cloud region.
In the last few days, Microsoft announced it planned to spend $80 billion on building AI data centers in the 2025 financial year, a significant increase from last year. More than half of that commitment will be in the United States.
